Ecuador Confirms First Case of Coronavirus Imported From Spain

Ecuador's Health Minister Carolina Andramuño Saturday confirmed that an Ecuadorian citizen, who returned from Madrid, is affected by the Covid-19.

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The patient is a 70-year-old woman who arrived in Guayaquil city on Feb. 14. Upon entering the country, she had no symptoms of the disease; at this time, however, she is in critical condition.

Ecuadorian authorities also reported that about 80 people who had contact with women are in quarantine. There are no more confirmed cases in this South American country so far.

President Lenin Moreno's health minister said the first coronavirus patient in Ecuador is already in a hospital whose name was not reported for "security reasons."

"The patient is in intensive care in one of the hospitals that were intended to attend coronavirus," Andramuño said.

As of Saturday morning,​​​​​​​ 85,733 people were infected by the coronavirus, 39,797 of whom have successfully recovered. However, 2,933 have died and 7,818 patients are in serious or critical condition.

In Latin America, three Covid-19 confirmed cases have been reported in Mexico, one in Brazil, and one in Ecuador.​​​​​​​

The U.S. has 69 confirmed cases, four of which may represent instances of local spread, for these people were not infected abroad or by direct contact with travelers.

"The people may have picked up the infection from people in their own community as the virus spread undetected through the general public," outlet ArsTechnica explained.​​​​​​​